Introduction to Salmon farming in Ireland
Introduction – the Irish Salmon Industry
The three core species, which now account for the majority of output in
Ireland
, are salmon, mussels and oysters. Farmed Irish Salmon (Salma salar) were commercially produced in 1981 when 100 tonnes were marketed. By 1990 this figure had grown to 6,300 tonnes and reached over 18,000 tonnes in the year 2000. Salmon and rainbow trout are the two principal finfish species farmed at sea. Salmon makes up 92% of production by volume and 90% by value (Irish Aquaculture Production Survey for 2003 – BIM).
In 2003, the export value of farmed salmon was €46.7m accounting for 93% of the total finfish exports. The principal export markets for salmon in 2003 were
France
, German,
Great Britain
and
Spain
. The French market alone accounted for 55%, by value, of exported farmed salmon. Other important markets include
Italy
,
Belgium
,
Luxembourg
,
Denmark
and
Switzerland
.
In
Ireland
, the salmon industry is primarily based in
Cork
, Kerry, Mayo,
Galway
and Donegal. In
Cork
salmon production stood at nearly 9,200t and €15m (2003 figures) and in Donegal salmon also makes a large contribution adding 6,300t worth almost €21m. In Galway and Mayo salmon is the most important species with a harvest over 6,300t (value €22m –
Galway
) and 1,300t (value €4.5m – Mayo) (Irish Aquaculture Production Survey for 2003 – BIM).
For information on the life cycle of the Salmon refer to the Salmon Life Cycle link on the Website.
Click here to download a Life Cycle Poster of the Salmon - (1,921 KB - PDF) (This Poster is one of the nine educational posters produced under the framework of the PISCES project, a well established forum for aquaculture education and training, spearheaded by AquaTT and partners, under the auspices of the Leonardo da Vinci programme- visit www.aquatt.ie for further information)
For further information on the salmon industry visit the Useful Links Section on this website.
